Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Internships and Fellowships

The Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage archives and records folk music and puts on an annual folk festival on the Washington, DC Mall, showcasing foreign and US cultural heritages. Internships are available year-round for students and non-students. Most are non-paying and length and hours are flexible, ranging from six weeks to a year. Fellowships are also offered through the Smithsonian.

Internship Opportunities:

• Preferred 15-20 hours/week but hours are flexible
• Mentorship Program for a More Diverse Workplace: for women of color (small stipend for 100 hours of work in fall semester)
• Fall 2016 deadline is September 1, 2016 
• Flexible year-round opportunities
• Fields of work:
• Folklife Festival:
• Anthropology, ethnomusicology, language studies focus
• Year-round but particularly in the summer
• Summer: need interns to work on event production, technical crew, Festival marketplace, social media, web production, Festival blog, graphic design, curatorial team, PR, volunteer coordination, video production, administration
• Summer interns must work every day of festival: last week of June and first of July
• Smithsonian Folkways Recording:
• Cross between record label and museum
• Intern projects in marketing, social media, mail order, royalties and copyright, recording production, web production, 
• graphic design, typography internships for students proficient in Adobe Creative Suite with a portfolio to submit
• Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives:
• Work in archives and collections cataloging, preservation, digitization
• Summer interns process audio and video from Folklife Festival
• Welcome Library and Info Studies students 
• Should have interest in world folk traditions, audio engineering, photography, photoshop, web design, or library and archival work 

Application Requirements:

• Online application 
• Essay
• Resume
• Transcript
• Letters of recommendation
• Summer deadline: March 15
• Rest of the year: six weeks before desired start date 

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Fellowship Program:

• Predoctoral, postdoctoral, senior postdoctoral scholars
• Very competitive (according to website)
• Awarded annually
• Arranged through Smithsonian's Office of Fellowships and Grants

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Information about volunteering can be found here.

Smithsonian Internships

The Smithsonian, America's national museum institution, offers a dizzying array of internship opportunities, most centered in Washington, DC. You can apply to individual museums as well as to the general Smithsonian applicant pool (it's probably wisest to apply to both!) Most opportunities are unpaid but there are a few ones featuring stipends as well as some scholarships that can be applied to internships (select the stipend program tag to see these scholarships). This post details the various institution-wide programs there are; click the Smithsonian tag to see posts on internships and fellowships at specific Smithsonian museums and affiliates.

Smithsonian positions are prestigious but extremely competitive because the institution is so well known, so be sure to apply to other places as well. Also, you may be more likely to get busywork or be confined to work in one small area of the overall work of a museum just because of the nature of how large the museums are. The other downside is that they don't offer housing or stipends, which can make it difficult for out-of-the-area students to work because DC housing is extremely expensive, even in the suburbs. However, if it's your passion, go for it! Your school or outside organizations might have scholarship programs for interns you can apply to. Summer is an especially competitive time, so another tip is to apply to fall or spring internships if you can.

Internship opportunities:

• General Smithsonian Intern Pool: Smithsonian staff who need an intern can pull from this pool (pun intended)
• Fall Semester due date: August 1 
• Spring Semester due date: November 1
• Summer Semester due date: March 15
• Online application 
• You can also apply to specific museums' programs
• James E Webb Internship: for minorities interested in business and administration
• Must be a minority (and US citizen or resident) and enrolled in undergrad or grad program in business or public administration
• 10 weeks, full time
• $600/week stipend 
• Summer and Fall Deadline: February 1
• Spring Deadline: October 1 
• Online application
• Essay of interest, resume, unofficial transcripts, references
• Placed in an administration office in one of the museums or affiliates
• Katzenberger Foundation Art History Scholarship
• 6 offered each summer 
• need-based
• college junior or senior
• Art history major or related focus
• 3.0 GPA
• US Citizen or permanent resident
• Need-based
• February 1 due date
• $6,000 stipend
• Essay of interest, transcripts, resume, references
• Minority Awards Program
• Minority and a US citizen or permanent resident 
• Enrolled in undergrad or grad program with 3.0
• Summer and Fall Deadline: February 1
• Spring Deadline: October 1
• $600/week stipend
• 40 hours/week for 10 weeks
• Native American Awards
• Informally or formally relate to a Native American community
• Enrolled in undergrad or grad program
• Summer and Fall Deadline: February 1
• Spring Deadline: October 1
• $600/week stipend
• 40 hours/week for 10 weeks